The North

Believe it or not, Scar Sighted was one of those gateway albums that I listened to back in 2015 when I started digging into black metal. And it took me a long time before I was able to appreciate it in comparison to those Panopticon, Saor and Agalloch records. This was far more brooding, dissonant and uncomfortable. And, despite it all, I could not help but get sucked in by its atmosphere. This is not an avant-garde release like Ad Nauseum with its unending assault of loud noises, uncommon time signatures, and unconventional song structures. Scar Sighted is unashamed to slow down and compliment its black metal pulse with post-metal passages; clean guitars, slower moving percussion and whispered vocals. Most importantly, these styles are complimented well to one another as not to feel like isolated ideas crammed together.

It can certainly be an overwhelming listen at just over an hour. The title track is likely my least favourite on the record as ten minutes seems like far too much and the track loses momentum at a more alarming pace than the records shorter moments. But as a whole...look my background with extreme metal has been challenging the further it diverges into the dissonant and the avant-garde, but this is an exception. I do enjoy this record; not as much as I did back in 2015 however. Scar Sighted is one of those rare examples of avant-garde music done right.

7/10

So with the start of a new year it's once again time to have a look at the covers for all the releases for each clan. I personally like to rate a whole stack of covers all at once, rather than doing them one at a time throughout the year, as it allows me to get a better feel for where each cover sits in comparison to others. With that in mind, I've just rated every cover for releases in the North in 2022.

Here are the releases that are currently competing for the prestigious 2022 The North Cover of the Year Award (i.e. they have 3 or more ratings) :

Stormruler - Sacred Rites & Black Magick

Incandescence - Le coeur de l'homme

Aara - Triade II: Hemera

Blut aus Nord - Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses

Tómarúm - Ash in Realms of Stone Icons

Saor - Origins

Vorga - Striving Toward Oblivion

If you want to contribute and rate some covers, the easiest way is to go to The Gallery and select The North and 2022.

https://metal.academy/gallery?cid=6&type=overall_cover_rating&myRating=&fromYear=2022&toYear=2022&exclude=0

I look forward to seeing which release gets up for the win!

Strong list this month Ben.  Particularly liked Stormruler, Ellende and Skythala.  Didn't mind that Darkthrone track strangely as normally I find them pretty boring nowadays.  Only duds for me were Woods of Desolation and Liturgy (although not massive fan of that Kampfar either).

P.S. you have got the title wrong on that first track in the list, looks like you have duplicated the Stormruler track from beneath.

I'm having some issues with my 2022 list this year, so I'm going to try and break everything down by Clan to try and organize my thoughts. Here's my full, ordered list of North albums I've checked out this year, I'd be interested to see anyone else's top 5 or 10 or whatever as we're going into the final month of 2022.

...So this is where all my listening went this year, huh? I've got a lot of work to do, some of these definitely deserve another shot, like the newest Deathspell Omega. Autonoesis and Tómarúm have taken the crown this year so far, with my opinion on which one edges out the other changes from day to day. The Asunojokei album grew on me immensely throughout the year, and there wasn't any way Caio Lemos' Brii wasn't going to be high up in the ranks. There was tons of Black Metal out this year and, yet again, it didn't disappoint.  

1. Autonoesis - Moon of Foul Magics
2. Tómarúm - Ash in Realms of Stone Icons
3. Asunojokei - Island
4. Brii - Corpos Transparentes
5. Haunter - Discarnate Ails
6. Wake - Thought Form Descent
7. Ultha - All That Has Never Been True
8. Black Fucking Cancer - Procreate Inverse
9. Wiegedood - There's Always Blood at the End of the Road
10. Djevel - Naa Skrider Natten Sort
11. White Ward - False Light
12. Saiden - Onryo II: Her Spirit Eternal
13. Gaerea - Mirage
14. Vital Spirit - Still as the Night, Cold as the Wind
15. Celeste - Assassine(s)
16. Grand Belial's Key - Kohanic Charmers
17. Esoctrilihum - Saopth's
18. Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses
19. Saor - Origins
20. Grima - Frostbitten
21. Daeva - Through Sheer Will and Black Magic...
22. Esoctrilihum - Consecration of the Spiritus Flesh
23. Vorga - Striving Towards Oblivion
24. Devil Master - Ecstasies of Never Ending Night
25. Nocturnal Triumph - Nocturnal Triumph
26. Trhä - Tálcunnana dëhajma tun dejl bënatsë abcul’han dlhenisë ëlh inagat
27. Nokturnal Mortum - To Lunar Poetry
28. Drudkh - All Belong to the Night
29. Krallice - Psychagogue
30. Trhä - vat gëlénva!!!
31. Lamp of Murmuur / Ebony Pendant - Plenilunar Requiems
32. Negative Plane - The Pact...
33. Ultra Silvam - The Sanctity of Death
34. Arð - Take Up My Bones
35. Deathspell Omega - The Long Defeat
36. Negativa - 04
37. Pure Wrath - Hymn to the Woeful Hearts
38. Sylvaine - Nova
39. Det Eviga Leendet - Reverence
40. Kvaen - The Great Below
41. Falls of Rauros - Key to a Vanishing Future
42. Marrasmieli - Martaiden mailta
43. Festung - Der Turm
44. Gudsforladt - Friendship, Love and War
45. Stangarigel - Na Severe Srdca
46. Luminous Vault - Animate the Emptiness
47. Krallice - Crystalline Exhaustion
48. Scarcity - Aveilut
49. Elegiac - Wolves Chase the Light

1. Patristic - 03 (from Apologetica, 2022)

2. Negativa - XVII (from 03, 2018)

3. Cirith Gorgor - The Declaration of Our Neverending War (from Onwards to the Spectral Defile, 1999) [Submitted by Daniel]

4. Sear Bliss - Omen of Doom (from The Arcane Odyssey, 2007) [Submitted by Vinny]

5. Aborym - U.V. Impaler (from With No Human Intervention, 2003)

6. Drudkh - Till We Become the Haze (from All Belong to the Night, 2022)

7. Axis of Advance - Of One to Conflict It (from Obey, 2004)

8. Coldworld - Wound (from Isolation, 2022)

9. Thy Darkened Shade - Or She-Ein Bo Mahshavah (from Liber Lvcifer I: Khem Sedjet, 2014) [Submitted by Vinny]

10. Ateiggär - Us Lyschegiftig Schlaf verwached (from Tyrannemord, 2022)

11. Gudsforladt - The Three Sights (from Friendship, Love and War, 2022)

12. White Ward - Love Exchange Failure (from Love Exchange Failure, 2019)

13. Gevurah - Towards the Shifting Sands (from Gehinnom, 2022)

14. Lord Belial - Enter the Moonlight Gate (from Enter the Moonlight Gate, 1997)

15. Fleurety -  Englers piler har ingen brodd (from Min tid skal komme, 1995)

To describe French one-man bm outfit Esoctrilihum as being industrious is quite an understatement. Since 2017, Asthâghul has released eight albums and three EPs. This level of prolific activity is hardly unheard of but is certainly not the norm. Reading a few interviews with him around the web this morning Asthâghul has a very specific mindset he exists within to allow his creative juices to flow and based on the frequency of his output he does not find it very difficult to get into the zone.

Released a little under a couple of months ago (at the time of writing this review at least), Saopth’s continues Asthâghul’s journey into the symphonic, the avant-garde and the lo-fi black metal elements of his music. I will go on record early on in this review in noting that there is a lot to take in here. As someone who is not really that interested in avant-garde metal this maybe more of an individual struggle as opposed to a more widespread challenge for any fan of the sub-genre. Fortunately, there is enough variety within Esoctrilihum’s music to retain enough of the more extreme elements that are more attractive to my palate.

I am not even going to attempt to talk about individual tracks here as that is firstly an impossible task (for me at least) and secondly would be an injustice to the whole release when viewed as a singular piece of art. I can only focus on the whole album as the consistency of the performance breeds the familiarity I need to connect with it superbly. One of the major strengths of Saopth’s forty-three plus minutes its clever use of keyboards and synthesisers. They draw an ethereal and eerie picture that is equal part dungeon synth and symphonic black metal also. They are like an icy cold hand to hold throughout the album, caressing your palm during the albums more bizarre moments whilst all the while guiding you through the maelstrom that is all the component parts of the album.

Vocally, Asthâghul adopts a rasping kind of lunacy in his style that is the perfect accompaniment to the music. Sat in the mix, well layered behind the keys and the guitars and drums they embody a real sense of struggle. There are times however when it all does get too much, where no amount of mixing and mastering prowess can balance all the elements in any sense of equilibrium and as a result sections of some tracks sound like they are damaged parts of the tape to my ears which is not a pleasant experience in all honesty. I cannot deny however that Saopth’s entertained me and although I am unlikely to have much desire to revisit this for further unpicking, there is no denying the effort and talent involved in this release.

3.5/5

Spotify Playlist

Tracklisting:

1. Batushka - Ектения • VIII • Спасение (from Litourgiya, 2015) [Submitted by Daniel]

2. Keep of Kalessin - Crown of the Kings (from Armada, 2006)

3. Gnaw Their Tongues - Lick The Poison From The Cave Walls (from Abyss of Longing Throats, 2015) [Submitted by Daniel]

4. Raventale - Author of Incest (from Transcendence, 2012) [Submitted by Sonny]

5. Adorior - Birth of Disease (from Author of Incest, 2005) [Submitted by Xephyr]

6. Nazxul - Vow Of Vengeance (from Black Seed, 1998)

7. Immortal - Penance (from Northern Chaos Gods, 2018) [Submitted by Primordial_Demiurge13]

8. Mo'ynoq - Penance (from Penance, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

9. Urfaust - Der halbtoten Dichters Schein-Existenz (from Ritual Music for the True Clochard, 2012) [Submitted by Vinny]

10. Khors - Throne of Antiquity (from The Flame of Eternity's Decline, 2005) [Submitted by Sonny]

11. Gaerea - Mirage (from Mirage, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

12. Nahvalr - Swallower of Bile (from Nahvalr, 2008) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Windfaerer - Depletion (from Breaths of Elder Dawns, 2021)

14. Behexen - Night of the Blasphemy (from Rituale Satanum, 2000) [Submitted by Sonny]

15. Thy Light - The Crossing of the Great White Bear (from Thy Light, 2021)

I am going to come right out and say it. It is criminal that I have been unaware of this record for the last eight years. Given I already went in for a vinyl purchase within two weeks of hearing it for the first time, this should be evidence enough of my desire to rectify this wrong. First off, although I get the Mayhem, Abigor, Dissection and even Deathspell Omega vibes, I do think this is one of the most refreshing and unique black metal albums I have ever heard.

It flirts with the progressive elements throughout the experience without ever showing full on commitment to them in the long term. The always audible bass casts some aspersions about the progressive tendencies of the record in that I do not think that it always intends to sound progressive. Unlike with Onirik (another one of my unique favourite finds from recent years) this bass is not always climbing or expanding the ether of the music intentionally. In short, it is just well played and well placed in the arrangements and overall mix.

Of course, there is a lot more to Lvcifer Liber… than just the bass. The guitars fill the very air around them with their (again) progressive melodicism and warm Hellenic style. When combined with the passages of chant and mantras they work well together to build a lush and uncomfortable cosiness to the two short instrumental tracks that open sides A and B of the record. Early in the record it becomes clear that Thy Darkened Shade can be rhythmic machine when the tendency takes them. With an almost black ‘n roll catchiness they can move from occult driven atmospheres to infectiously memorable passages with adhesive-like qualities.

Drummer Hannes Grossman (credited only in a “guest” capacity) gives a great performance, varying between blastbeats and more measured elements he shows a real array of skills over an hour and near twenty minutes. This is not a rampant display by any means – his impact is much more subtle and considered in comparison to the rest of the instrumentation. With Semjaza handling everything else barring vocals, it is left to the mysterious The A to add a very Mayhemesque influence to the construct. I did find the vocals to be the weaker part of the machine initially, largely because they were so predictable, but they are well balanced with the cleaner mantras from Semjaza that I soon concluded that overall, they work without them necessarily needing to be on a par with everything else that is going on.

This is an album that rewards with repeated visits, subtly pushing your experience of the boundary expansion with each return listen. For me at first it just sounded like a melodic bm record with some clever parts but it is a lot more calculated than that and it has taken me seven or eight listens to truly get my head around what I have now proudly adorning the shelves of my vinyl collection.

4.5/5

I must confess to not having heard the debut album by Cirith Gorgor for a good while. A brief look at my spreadsheet where I log all my collection showed me that I had this album as a five out of five rating. SPOILER ALERT – it isn’t. This record had a bit of a cult following back on the old Terrorizer forums and I can sort of see why. The blazing Battles in the North intensity of Immortal, the relentless attack of Gorgoroth and the misanthropic attitude of Marduk all shine through on this record. Similarly, the crude sense of melody deployed by the likes of Sargeist rings around my head for most of Onwards to the Spectral Defile.

That cult status does not strike me as all that valid – certainly in 2022 anyways. Released in 1999, this album dropped long after the heyday of the bm scene and so I hear nothing that I had not heard already from any of the above-mentioned bands. Gorgoroth had peaked long before this record, Marduk lead the way in the intensity stakes as Immortal embraced the more epic aspect of bm in the very same year Cirith Gorgor released this, their debut album. The thought occurs to me that CG just arrived late to the party and wondered where everyone else had gone.

History lesson aside, is OttSD any good? Well, yes, it is. If you like a dose of 90’s scathing black metal with some melody (clumsily) applied, then this is for you. Does the scope of the ambition outweigh the ability to deliver it? Yes, it does. Is the production job a little too high value for the aesthetic they try to portray? Probably. It is still a decent enough an effort for a debut album though and I am being more than a little unkind to it by berating it in terms of historical reference alone. Enjoy this album for what it is and not when it should have been released.

3.5/5

I tell you what Ben, this month's playlist was close to a 100% nod of approval over here in the North West of England as I worked my way through the list in a slightly odd fashion of starting at track 11 initially and then once I had got to the end hitting up the correct order for my next run through.  Hulder through Akhlys (fuck yeah) all saw the "like" button on Spotify getting a right bashing.  Ash of Ashes was perhaps the only track on the back half of the list that I debated whether it would get the green heart or not but it made the cut despite the clean vocals.  Sainte Marie des Loups are quite a recent discovery for me and so revisiting that track so soon after thrashing the album for a couple of weeks was a timely reminder of one of my new favourite bands.

The list starts off strong with Gaerea who are one of my favourite modern black metal bands - indeed I am waiting for the vinyl of this one to arrive in the post, and I predict this would be one of the few releases on my end-of-year list in a few months.  A curved ball with Devil Master if I am honest but it still felt strong enough for inclusion in the solid start to the list and the inclusion of Krohm and then the mighty Horna soon helped cast any doubt aside.  The horns of Sear Bliss were a welcome sound early on a Sunday morning also - all hail Zoltán Pál!  This track is the highlight of the playlist for me (even above the mighty Akhlys), majestic and triumphant without getting pissy.  Thy Darkened Shade continue to slip past me, even them being the feature release for August didn't see me get around to this album.  A lot more interesting than I originally expected so definitely worth venturing further with the whole album.

So barring Devil Master and Deafheaven (who I can sort of get to grips with, just not for ten minutes plus) this was a great month again.

The avant-garde tag on music can be a bit misleading. There are some instances where this tag is used to describe music that goes far and beyond what could be described as "accessible" (i.e. Imperial Triumphant, Deathspell Omega, etc.) by throwing the kitchen sink at the listener with relentless time changes and technical breakdowns. On the other hand, avant-garde can be used to describe bands like Schammasch and Scarcity; the forms are not that unusual, but the usage of unconventional composition techniques makes it quite uncomfortable.

In Scarcity's case on the bands debut album Aveilut, the usage of microtonality gives the droning guitar leads some weight as they float in and out of tune with one another. It can be easy to find yourself floating on a cloud while listening to these five tracks suck you in with their atmosphere. But unlike post-metal, Scarcity does not seem interested in doing anything with these ideas. Aveilut is by design a drone metal album that does not resort to spacey synthesizers with no percussion or distinguished bass for its entire 45 minute duration. I can respect the bands experimentation even if I don't really care for drone metal. The blending of the stagnant drone metal with the loud and vibrant black metal is unique, and it does sometimes bring in the best moments of each.

What it does not bring is black metal's production. Everything is so compressed and restrained that nothing is allowed to evolve dynamically. The closing track "V" is the only one that sounds like a fully developed idea, but the guitar lead is not allowed to go anywhere because it's already peaking when the song begins. The lack of bass on "I" left me worried right out the gate for much the same reason. And while "IV" has a decent mix, it is the bands subtle reminder that this is not meant to be consumed as a black metal record. And I think that is fine; experimentation in drone metal is by nature, extremely lacking. But maybe combining these two genres together was never going to work in the first place.

5/10

I don't actually recall the gateway release or moment of getting into black metal.  I just found myself listening to it, albeit many years after its perceived peak of the 90s.

I recall that in the 90s I had no patience whatsoever for it.  I had stumbled across some Burzum at some point and thought it was utter shit (no idea what track it was) but I recall that in those heady days before we had internet in the house I was reliant on magazines and radio shows for my metal feeds and my cousin who had turned me onto metal by loaning me his record collection had no extreme metal whatsoever and so I cut my teeth on Iron Maiden etc before straying into death metal.  To be honest, once I had heard Morbid Angel and Obituary, black metal never stood a fucking chance.

As I type I think it was Immortal's Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism that was probably my first serious sit down with a bm record and from there I soon found my way to At The Heart of Winter and from there I followed a familiar path into Darkthrone, Burzum, Emperor, Mayhem etc

So this brings me to the end of my Black Noise deep dive with the outcome being as follows:

Is Black Noise really a defined sound? YES it is but it's often misused to describe your noisier conventional Black Metal or noisy music that really doesn't have much to do with metal.

Is it worth differentiating from other forms of Black Metal? YES because I think it'll only have a very niche audience with many Black Metal fans wanting to steer away from it.

Does it belong in The North? YES very clearly.

Should it be added to the Metal Academy database? YES I think it should.

Glad you enjoyed it Vinny. For me, I think the biggest takeaways were Blackbraid (def need to listen to the full length), Strid (who I'd never heard before and was impressed) and that Panopticon track (I didn't realise the earlier material was more traditional black metal). Will spend more time with Grima too.

I am not as focussed on current year releases as perhaps other members are so any releases I stumble across from the current year that I like enough to retain a copy influences how "good" a year it is.  I still find far more interesting releases from days gone by and it is these I seek out ahead of staying on top of any current year releases.  Wiegedood is the only release of note (still getting to grips with Blackbraid) from the year so far.  Have not heard anything else off that list from Ben barring the odd BAN track and I was unimpressed.  Celeste are on my radar but I am still in 2017 in terms of their discography.

Spotify Playlist

Tracklisting:

1. Abigor - Gomorrha Rising/Nightside Rebellion (from Totschlager: A Saintslayer's Songbook, 2020) [Submitted by Daniel]

2. Misþyrming - Með svipur á lofti (from Algleymi, 2019) [Submitted by Vinny]

3. Esoctrilihum - Spiritüs Flesh (from Consecration of the Spiritüs Flesh, 2022)

4. Burzum - Det som en gang var (from Hvis lyset tar oss, 1994) [Submitted by Sonny]

5. Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult - Mardom - Echo Zmory (from Mardom, 2019) [Submitted by Vinny]

6. Wake - Bleeding Eyes of the Watcher (from Thought Form Descent, 2022)

7. Darkthrone - Crossing the Triangle of Flames (from Under a Funeral Moon, 1993) [Submitted by Sonny]

8. Glorior Belli - Meet Us At The Southern Sign (from Meet Us At The Southern Sign, 2009) [Submitted by Daniel]

9. Nyktalgia - Peisithanatos (from Peisithanatos, 2008)

10. Negator - Dignity of War (from Panzer Metal, 2010) [Submitted by Vinny]

11. Vinterland - Our Dawn of Glory (from Welcome My Last Chapter, 1996)

12. Bríi - Corpos transparentes (from Corpos transparentes, 2022)

Main takeaway from this month's list was Danish atmo-black band Sunken with their WITTR laden track Void and I have already made note to listen to that album more now I have completed the playlist.  The other standout was In Aphelion who are also now on my Trello board.  I remain on the fence with White Ward, perfectly acceptable atmo-black but that sax is irritating, although better applied than I feared it might be.  The tracklisting here is out of sync with the playlist btw, not that I noticed until now because I was just following on Spotify but that Sunken track is actually at position 15 in the list and not 2nd as above.  Good list again though.

The only Furia album I was familiar with before this was 2016's post-black metal album Księżyc milczy luty which I enjoyed mightily, so I was interested to hear this ep from seven years prior. Unlike the 2016 album this is very much a black metal release. It primarily takes the melodic approach to the genre, but mixes in several other subdivisions like atmo-black and black 'n' roll with a hint of post-black metal to boot. I found it massively enjoyable (in fact if I could speak Polish I'd probably even have been singing along) and the three tracks are certainly quite memorable. The only drag with it is that, at only fifteen minutes, it's a bit frustrating because you're just starting to really get into it and it's over, so you have to go fumbling for the restart.

4/5

My two cents:

Pagan Black Metal = Black Metal music that utilizes tools borrowed from Folk &/or Viking Metal music without sacrificing on the trademark Black Metal atmosphere & aesthetic.

Folk Metal = Metal music built around Folk melodies & attributes. Often borrows the tools of Black Metal however the Folk components play the role of the protagonist & this doesn't allow the music to consistently achieve the dark & evil atmosphere & aesthetic that defines a genuine Black Metal release.

I've never seen the need for a Pagan Black Metal subgenre to tell you the truth & that may be something that we look at in the future.

Ben & I have been well acquainted with Austrian black metal establishment Abigor since the very beginning of their existence back in the mid-1990’s with releases such as “Orkblut - The Retaliation” & “Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)” playing a very major role in our teenage household. Abigor were everything we wanted black metal to be at the time. They were dark, brutal, mysterious & totally underground. It was just the recipe for any aspiring young black metal elitist. Unfortunately though, I’ve found them to be a little hit & miss over the years with records like 2010’s “Time Is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint - An Excursion on Satan's Fragmenting Principle” doing very little for me however the news of a resurgence has peaked my interest so I’ve headed into Abigor’s thirteenth full-length with a significant amount of hope.

The album starts off well with a couple of the early tracks offering both strength & depth. I particularly enjoy the urgency & aggression of opener “Gomorrah Rising - Nightside Rebellion” which is probably my album highlight. The avant-garde direction Abigor had taken on their releases from the early 2010’s seems to have been pushed to the wayside in favour of a return to the band’s roots. The drumming is very fast & highly proficient while the dual guitar work is as complex as ever but I wouldn’t say it reaches for the dissonance of Deathspell Omega as often as some reviewers have claimed. There’s simply a lot going on simultaneously & the production job is full of high end which leaves everything fighting with each other a bit & the vocals & solos aren’t really highlighted as much as you would usually expect. It's not all that different from Emperor's overthetop wall-of-sound production approach to be honest but it can be a little exhausting given the lack of dynamics & does tend to leave everything sounding a little samey after a while. Personally I would have liked T.T.’s drums to be a little further forward in the mix in order to better showcase his precision brutality as he’s got some impressive blast beat chops & is capable of some pretty interesting cymbal work too.

There are a few weird moments that don’t quite work scattered across the tracklisting & they sometimes see the song structures threatening to fall over a bit. I’m not too much of a fan of the chanty vocal stuff on a track like “Tartaros Tides” which is the clear weak spot on the album in my opinion too. Silenius’ vocal delivery can be a bit hit & miss as he tries his level best to match Mayhem legend Attila Csihar for general insanity but there’s a decent amount of quality about what Abigor do here overall. They’ve clearly got more technical ability than the majority of the competition & showcase a deep-seated black metal pedigree in every move they make. The use of symphonic elements is professionally composed & executed with an obvious reference to classic Emperor but never seems to overstep the cheese line while the band aren’t afraid to step outside of their dedicated genre for a quick look at more progressive territories on occasion either. Is this the return to form that people are promising? Well, in a word no it’s not but I don’t doubt that it’s probably the band’s best effort in twenty-five years nonetheless.

For fans of Emperor, Lunar Aurora & early Dødheimsgard.

3.5/5

OK, now I've got the correct month let's start again...

With not a lot to do on a pissing down Sunday morning in Platinum Jubilee-ravaged England I gave this a blast and found another solid playlist complete with some personal favourites - aside from my own choices I would include Immortal, Blasphemy and Caladan Brood in this category. Inquisition, Forteresse and Sacramentum were new to me and were tracks I enjoyed immensely. I also got a lot out of the Yellow Eyes track, Tómarúm, the new Aara, the Sear Bliss track from April's featured album and I enjoyed the Bethlehem track more than I expected as I am not a big fan usually. Watain, Månegarm, Mistur and Abigor were misses for me personally, feeling either overblown or just too dissonant (Abigor) for my taste. Massively more enjoyable than standing in the rain waving a soggy Union Jack (and you can print that on the cover!!)

Think this is in the wrong thread Sonny.

Well spotted Vinny. Prize is a Jubilee mug*

*note: there may not be an actual prize.

It would be greatly appreciated if you could vote on the Hall of Judgement entry for this release Xephyr.

I got a ton of out of this one, since a lot of the Symphonic Black Metal albums that I come across aren't exactly great. Glory and Perdition takes simple additions like brass and atmospheric, spacy synth backing and really nails exactly how much to use of it and when. The overall album feel and theme is incredibly unique and powerfully written as, like the others have said, there honestly isn't much of it. The trumpet/trombone combo only show up once or twice a track and the rest of the transitional sections are drenched in this eerie, somewhat heavenly but still Black Metal evil sounding synth and orchestra that works really well in my opinion. The interludes are a bit too segmented I think, because while I think they're integral to the album, the flow gets sort of halted by "Reverie", "Ode to a Dying Star", and especially when the album ends on "Lacus Somniorum" after the enormous closer "Blood Serenade". Attila Csihar is back yet again and although it took me quite a few Mayhem listens to not hate his vocal style, it's impressive to hear him sound so good and at home in an album with more production elements and a bigger, more triumphant atmosphere. His throat-like singing sounds awesome as a compliment to the rest of Sear Bliss's act on the opening "Birth of Eternity", but his other feature on "Shores of Death" may be one of the weaker parts of the album despite the middle section being very creative and memorable with the synths and horns. Really strong and cool album overall, easily one of my new albums to point to for a different and effective take on Symphonic Black Metal.

4/5

I'm fascinated to see Caladan Brood at number 4 and yet no Summoning. Is it a matter of the apprentice surpassing the master in your opinion? I haven't heard of Mist of Misery, so prob should check it out.

I make sure to include at least one symphonic black metal track in every North playlist, and not just because it should be represented. I've always been a sucker for it when it's done well. That said, I agree that Emperor have yet to be bettered.

Yes, I think it is Ben. Summoning just feel so OTT to me that they rub me up the wrong way. In all fairness I have only listened to a couple of albums for this reason, so they may have produced a classic I haven't heard.

Symphonic black metal is perfectly valid for inclusion in the North playlists as itseems to be quite a popular sub-genre, it just isn't one I personally enjoy massively. It is a great mystery why Emperor were so much better than all the rest though.

Does anyone else know of a sub-genre where one band so far outclasses all the competition or are Emperor a one-off?

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5q76wFikC1oLaU59cHSgaQ?si=n6j4MpJ_RbWix45k4619VQ

Tracklisting:

1. Deathspell Omega - The Long Defeat (from The Long Defeat, 2022)

2. Wiegedood - FN SCAR 16 (from There's Always Blood at the End of the Road, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

3. Bathory - Home of Once Brave (from Hammerheart, 1990)

4. Enslaved - Ridicule Swarm (from Below The Lights, 2003) [Submitted by Daniel]

5. Emperor - Cosmic Keys to My Creations & Times (from In the Nightside Eclipse, 1994) [Submitted by Sonny]

6. Young And In The Way - Betrayed by Light (from When Life Comes To Death, 2014) [Submitted by Vinny]

7. Psychonaut 4 - Neurasthenia (from Death is a Form of Art, 2016)

8. Endstille - Satanarchie (from Infektion 1813, 2012) [Submitted by Daniel]

9. Kvaen - The Wolves Throne (from The Funeral Pyre, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]

10. Gorgoroth - Begravelsesnatt (from Pentagram, 1994) [Submitted by Sonny]

11. Drudkh - The Nocturnal One (from The Nocturnal One, 2022)

12. Teitanblood - Cadaver Synod (from Death, 2014) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Véhémence - Un Contre Mille (from Ordalies, 2022) [Submitted by Xephyr]

14. Samael - Son of Earth (from Ceremony of Opposites, 1994) [Submitted by Vinny]

15. Tardigrada - Verrat (from Vom Bruch bis zur Freiheit, 2021)

16. Ultra Silvam - Of Molded Bread and Rotten Wine (from The Sanctity of Death, 2022) [Submitted by Xephyr]

17. Moonlight Sorcery - Hauta-alttari (from Piercing Through the Frozen Eternity, 2022)

18. Darkthrone - Kathaarian Life Code (from A Blaze in the Northern Sky, 1992) [Submitted by Sonny]

This track sounds like trance DJs Tiesto, Ferry Corsten & Armin Van Buuren got blind drunk & tried to make a synth-driven black metal tune. I genuinely hate everything about it.

1. Negativa - XXIII (from 04, 2022)
Nice and expansive atmo-black that doesn't do anything new, but is still pretty good. I'll give this album a listen sometime when I get chance.

2. Spectral Wound - Diabolic Immanence (from A Diabolic Thirst, 2021) [Submitted by Daniel]
Fuck yeah, this is superb ass-kicking, real black metal. Loved this track and indeed the album from whence it came.

3. Violet Cold - Immersive Collapse (from Səni Uzaq Kainatlarda Axtarıram, 2022)
A little too inoffensive for me - kOsmik is still my preferred album from this guy.

4. Archgoat - In Extremis Nazarene (from Worship the Eternal Darkness, 2021) [Submitted by Sonny]
I love these guys and this is monstrously demonic BM.

5. Dark Forest - Vesperia (from Land of the Evening Star, 2012)
Starts off well, but I'm less enamoured when the vocals kick in as they are a little too viking metal for me.

6. Vorga - Fool's Paradise (from Striving Toward Oblivion, 2022) [Submitted by Xephyr]
Quite enjoyed this one too, sort of melodic, but still with a bit of a bite to it.

7. Mare Cognitum - Ataraxia Tunnels (from Solar Paroxysm, 2021) [Submitted by Daniel]
Another of last year's top-knotch black metal albums. Mare Cognitum sits very near to the top of the atmo-black tree for my money (which I did spend on a limited edition coloured-vinyl copy of Solar Paroxysm).

8. Sargeist - Black Fucking Murder (from Satanic Black Devotion, 2003) [Submitted by Vinny]
I really like this album. Proper, unpolluted black metal with an old-school early second wave sound.

9. Odium - The Brightness of the Weeping Kingdom (from The Sad Realm of the Stars, 1998)
Unfamiliar with these guys and this, their only album. Very much influenced by Emperor I would guess and not bad at all. Not overly symphonic, so doesn't become cheesy at all.

10. Leviathan - Made as the Stale Wine of Wrath (from Massive Conspiracy Against All Life, 2008) [Submitted by Sonny]
This is fucking intense, man! Wrest is seriously a guy not to be fucked with if he can summon up this level of firepower at will.

11. Onirik - Melodies of Reflection and Praise (from The Fire Cult Beyond Eternity, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]
I REALLY like this album. Gonius Rex takes his black metal in a progressive direction with his busy and relentless guitar work and temporal twists and turns. Complete with Abbath-like croaky bullfrog vocals!

12. Panopticon - Chase The Grain (from Roads To The North, 2014) [Submitted by Xephyr]
Roads to the North is the album that got me into Panopticon, so it will always have a place in my black metal heart. Obviously this is also fantastic as are 90% of Panpticon tracks.

13. Anaal Nathrakh - Satanarchrist (from In the Constellation of the Black Widow, 2009)
I've never listened to Anaal Nathrakh despite seeing their name everywhere for the last 20 years. Not intentionally, it's just one of those things I guess. Anyway, this is fucking manic, so now I guess I'll have to check them out properly.

14. Burzum - My Journey to the Stars (from Burzum, 1992) [Submitted by Sonny]
I'm one of those annoying, contentious motherfuckers who thinks Varg's debut is as good as anything else he put out (and a damn sight better than most - only Hvis lyset tar oss coming close) and I love this song especially. So sue me!!

15. Ninkharsag - The Necromanteion (from The Dread March of Solemn Gods, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]
Decent English black metal bands are in short supply, so it's nice to ear a bit of decent Dissection worship from good ol' Blighty.

16. Det eviga leendet - Estrange (from Reverence, 2022)
Not heard these guys before, but I like this a lot. I see it has Jacob Buczarski of Mare Cognitum on vocals which can only be a good thing. Pounding rhythm and swirling guitar work gel really well with JB's excellent vocals

17. Festung - Fallt! (from Der Turm, 2022)
Obviously taking it's queues from Paysage d'Hiver, albeit with a meatier sound than Pd'H's lo-fi approach, this is a decent slab of atmo-black. Not too original, but good nonetheless.

Plummeting straight out of the ugly tree and hitting every branch on the way down, Bestial Warlust do not fuck around for one second of Blood & Valour. Despite their obvious ability to tear your face off, they do not rely on this capability alone to get their message across however. Time is taken to build some (loose) sense of structure on some tracks and yes, I grant you, these soon dissolve into furious blackened-death metal (or War Metal for some purists) that have little intention other than to be as loud and obnoxious as possible. The point is that even when they are not in full-tilt slaughter-mode Bestial Warlust can still scare the shit out of you.

Beyond just ticking boxes in the extreme world of metal, the Aussie three-piece create genuine torque in their music. Yes the horse-power on how fast they can go is impressive enough but the grunt that sits behind that speed is equally noteworthy. I would not say we ever reach warp-speed here and despite the production values the band deliver a clearly audible assault that carries rhythm the majority of the way. In a way it is an album that you only need occasional blasts of as it absolutely delivers with every play making it one of the most satisfying listens I could wish for.

 In terms of criticism, the instrumental track slapped bang in the middle of the album just feels showy and unnecessary. Without vocals, this level of extremity has its limits guys! I would have left that track out and just kept on with the more complete feel to the tracks. The album does feel a little disrupted by the instrumental track unfortunately, almost like it has to start again. I can cope with ugly but inconsistency is harder to swallow.

4/5

While black metal has come on immensely over the years and is now as diverse a genre as any, I have reservations. Some modern black metal releases feel a bit like menthol cigarettes or alco-pops or those weird toffee-flavoured coffees that have become popular in recent times. Me, I prefer high-caffeine, full-strength, 40 degree proof black metal and (much as I enjoy a lot of the hybridised black metal releases) I still love that straight-up, raw blasting style of the nineties and that, essentially, is what we have here. I sometimes get a feeling that black metal is straying too far from it's roots with bands like Deafheaven and Alcest making inroads into the world of the RYM hipsters on regular occasions, so it's great to know that there is still plenty of room for second wave-style blasting and (small "m") mayhem. Chuck in a war theme and I'm pretty much sold. It's not quite as unremittingly pulverising as Panzer Division Marduk but it is certainly likely to appeal to the same people who love Marduk's best. That closing track is a bit odd though, basically just a list of dictatorial mad men's names in place of lyrics spoken over a repetitive refrain, but it doesn't distract massively from the rest and with it being the last track you could always end the album early and pretend it isn't there!

Ultimately, anyone who sticks a flag in the ground in an attempt to reclaim black metal from the grasping mitts of the hipsters and "trendsetters" is going to get a thumbs-up from me.

4/5

I am quite stunned by Alcest's non-metal albums and Katatonia's death-doom debut appearing on the list

It's hardly surprising really. RYM's genre-tagging is pretty terrible these days. I've been finding myself submitting Hall entries for roughly one in every three or four releases lately. The list indicates that the more accessible releases (i.e. Deafheaven, Agalloch, Alcest, etc.) will always be the more popular on a website that's not specifically catering for the extreme metal market.

My takes from this list are, Mystras, Funeral Mist (know them but not heard much recent output from them), Nameless Mist and Wiegedood who I also know but I am used to them sounding more aggressive than that frankly weird sounding track of undulating tremolos.

Didn't mind that Funeral Mist, at the same time I wasn't instantly blown away by it either.

'94 was indeed a special year for black metal - so many of my all-time favourites were released that year. 1994 is the new 1986!

I agree with you Xephyr. I wouldn't say that I'm anywhere near as on top of new releases as some of our other members are but I had four black metal releases in front of "...And Again Into The Light". There's no doubt that it's a very strong release & I'd comfortably take it over a lot of previous Panopticon records but Mare Cognitum took my bikkies over Ethereal Shroud, Spectral Wound & Le Chants de Nihil with Panopticon finishing in a respectable fifth place. I wouldn't say that I checked out a The North release that captivated me at that very top level this year though. None of these records reached "classic" status for me personally.

Nordicwinter - Le dernier adieu

Sedately paced atmospheric black metal from Canadian solo project Nordicwinter with nary a blastbeat in sight. This doesn't make it a bad record by any means, in fact it's a decent listen for any atmo-black afficianado, but neither is it going to set the gates of heaven ablaze. I was particularly enamoured of the distant-sounding vocals, which I really like in atmospheric black metal as they give the impression of ghostly voices heard on the wind. I would have liked a few pacier and more aggressive sections as overall the album feels almost too laid back and muted, but as I said it is decent enough, albeit fairly innocuous black metal.

3/5

There has been some very nice covers this year, but I must say it seems like an awful lot of bands just aren't trying and there is a lot of shit out there too. I guess because they don't need to catch the eye on the shelf anymore as everybody streams everything nowadays and as such the covers just aren't that important to some bands anymore. Is the art of the cover a dying art?

Check out the description for my latest video (my last black metal one and the only one I plan to keep):

I had Borknagar's debut pegged as a solid 4.5. However, it must be a dozen years since I last listened to it and those years haven't been kind. OK, I accept it's more likely that it is my taste that has changed rather than any fundamental alteration in the metal climate - it's my fault, not yours, Borknagar. The reason for this change of heart is those folky interludes which just get in the way of some pretty intense black metal. I mean, I'm just really getting into some decent old-school, second wave blasting then this drippy folk shit pops it's fucking head up and completely spoils my private party - again and again. Well I'm not gonna stand for it I tell you - I'm dropping this fucker down to a 3.5!

Actually, I'm so peeved about it because when they hit that bm sweet spot, which they do on several occasions here, they really are fantastic, but the impetus is completely drained by those multifarious folk breaks, like a turd in a pool party. I guess I'm just no longer the same tolerant guy I used to be several years back. Life's too short for endless interludes on black metal albums and if I want folk music I'll buy a Bob Dylan album instead - or Wardruna - those guys are much better at it anyway.

3.5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Sw9mEcyXo1pGyFHR3znLT?si=9-8JokmtThugqCC-1N8mnA

Tracklisting:

1. Otargos - Fleshborer Soulflayer (from Fleshborer Soulflayer, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

2. Gloosh - Hexenring (from Sylvan Coven, 2021) [Submitted by Sonny]

3. Uada - Djinn (from Djinn, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]

4. Archgoat - Black Womb Gnosis (from Worship the Eternal Darkness, 2021) [Submitted by Xephyr]

5. Arkona - Shtorm (from Khram, 2018)

6. Sun of the Blind - Fire & Thirst (from Skullreader, 2009) [Submitted by Daniel]

7. Panzerfaust - The Day After 'Trinity (from The Suns of Perdition - Chapter I: War, Horrid War, 2019) [Submitted by Vinny]

8. Stormkeep - The Serpent's Stone (from Tales of Othertime, 2021) [Submitted by Xephyr]

9. Blasphemy - Hoarding Of Evil Vengeance (from Fallen Angel Of Doom..., 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]

10. Cân Bardd - Autumn Shore (from Devoured by the Oak, 2021) [Submitted by Xephyr]

11. Khandra - Irrigating Lethal Acres With Blood (from All Occupied by Sole Death, 2021) [Submitted by Sonny]

12. Wormwitch - Canadian Denim Mountain Attack (from Wolf Hex, 2021) [Submitted by Sonny]

13. Darkthrone - Quintessence (from Panzerfaust, 1995) [Submitted by Daniel]

14. Finsterforst - Zerfall (from Zerfall, 2019)

15. Serpent's Oath - Malediction (from Nihil, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]

16. Aquilus - Into Wooded Hollows (from Bellum I, 2021)

17. Ethereal Shroud - Discarnate (from Trisagion, 2021)

It has been a while since a listened through the debut full-length from the now defunct Wodensthrone. The sound borrows more than just a tad from Drudkh to the extent that the opening of album closer That Which Is Now Forgotten – 597 borders on pure worship of the Ukrainians. The atmospheric elements contained within Loss draw a direct line to the first four Drudkh albums and similarly the charging momentum of the Wodensthrone debut matches the same impetus. Now, to have such a comparator is without question something of merit for a band who at the time were in their fourth year of existence. However, when you struggle to be able to stabilise where the influence stops and the genuine motivations of Wodensthrone begin then it is clear I have some challenges here.

With most releases (certainly most debut releases) I am looking for a band’s identity to shine through even if a plethora of influences are obvious at the same time. On Loss, I just do not get any sense of identity overall and the band come off as just combining the best bits of WITTR, Drudkh and then hark to some Winterfylleth to round things off. What I get therefore, whilst being of good quality, just is not that interesting in the grander scheme of things. In the more pagan inspired moments is where I find the greater levels of intrigue if I am honest, and as such I want to enjoy the record more than I do.

Now this is not to say that Loss is without its moments. The thundering fury of Black Moss needs acknowledging and celebrating as it is by far the most powerful and energised track on display here. It is the only track that shows enough individuality of sound to warrant notice above the other far too obviously influenced tracks. Whilst it most certainly does stray into that Drudkh hole that they continually fall into it does still standout as an individual triumph still with an acute level of intensity that is both imposing and welcome at the same time. The tremolo riffs wail on this track and the more basic riff patterns give real life to the passages. In many ways it is the most straight forward track on the album and is one whose structure they perhaps should have embraced a little more throughout the album.

In terms of quality, Wodensthrone knew how to write and play great atmospheric bm (just not necessarily own it at the same time). The level of musicianship was up there with the likes of Fen, Saor, Fuath and even Negura Bungent’s less ambient moments. However, it all just lacked an element of responsibility for the own sound and that in so many ways is an absolute tragedy.

3/5

An entertaining playlist this month. I would be lying if I said I enjoyed everything on it, but it was a very interesting listen.

1. Marduk - Beast of Prey (from Panzer Division Marduk, 1999) [Submitted by Sonny]
5/5 Brutal Metal of War.

2. Thyrfing - Döp dem i eld (from Vanagandr, 2021)
4/5 Pretty good - enjoyed it.

3. Mare Cognitum - Occultated Temporal Dimensions (from Luminiferous Aether, 2016) [Submitted by Sonny]
4.5/5 Swirling atmo-black that sweeps you away with it's lush atmospherics.

4. Antichrist Siege Machine - Carried Into Darkness (from Purifying Blade, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]
4/5 Thundering war metal. I'm a fan of this album.

5. møl - Serf (from Diorama, 2021)
3/5 Not really for me - a bit lightweight for my taste.

6. Havukruunu - Rautalintu (from Havulinnaan, 2015) [Submitted by Xephyr]
3.5/5 Decent if not great pagan BM.

7. Serpent Column - Disobedience (from Katartisis, 2021)
2.5/5 Serpent Column are currently one of the darlings of the BM scene and I get that we're all supposed to dig this cacophony, but it doesn't do anything for me. Guess that makes me the uncool one... again!!

8. Empyrium - Über den Sternen (from Über den Sternen, 2021)
3.5/5 A bit cheesy, but I did like the doomy vibe.

9. Inferno - The Wailing Horizon (from Paradeigma (Phosphenes of Aphotic Eternity), 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]
4/5 Proper infernal and filthy sounding - liked it a lot.

10. Blasphemy - Demoniac (from Blood Upon the Altar, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]
5/5 I love Blasphemy and this sounds like ass - which only makes it even cooler!

11. Code - The Rattle of Black Teeth (from Resplendent Grotesque, 2009)
2.5/5 Not for me - I especially didn't like the clean parts at all.

12. Drudkh - Sunwheel (from Autumn Aurora, 2004) [Submitted by Xephyr]
4.5/5 Drudkh are almost always high quality and this is no exception.

13. Antaeus - Inner War (from Cut Your Flesh and Worship Satan, 2000) [Submitted by Sonny]
4/5 Proper filthy, misanthropic black metal that makes no pretence to being anything else.

14. Cradle of Filth - Crawling King Chaos (from Existence Is Futile, 2021)
3.5/5 Despite still not being up my proverbial alley, surprisingly I didn't hate this within the context of the playlist, although the thought of a whole seventy minutes of the full album is still too much for me to contemplate.

15. Astrophobos - Liktal (from Corpus, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]
4/5 Really liked this. Simple, old-school black metal.

16. Untamed Land - A Nameless Shape (from Like Creatures Seeking Their Own Forms, 2021) [Submitted by Xephyr]
3.5/5 I like the spaghetti western atmospherics better than a lot of the more usual european folk metal crap that gets bandied about a lot nowadays within atmospheric black metal circles. Whilst not being exactly my cup of tea, it makes for an interesting mix.

17. Burzum - Spell of Destruction (from Burzum, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]
4.5/5 I guess I am one of the few who enjoys Burzum's debut more than his other releases. I know it's not objectively better than Hvis lyset tar oss or Filosofem, but I just enjoy it's naive and basic sound more. If I had ever made a black metal album I would have wanted it to sound like this.

18. Cantique Lepreux - Lune défroquée (from Sectes, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]
4/5 Love this old-school sound like the Astrophobos track.

19. Panopticon - Black Soot and Red Blood (from Kentucky, 2012) [Submitted by Daniel]
5/5 I think I have made my feelings on this album well known before so will say no more about it other than Panopticon are very, very near the top of the tree when it comes to atmospheric black metal.

Never really got on with Schammasch (not for want of trying).  I find their avant-garde approach to be at the expenses of the bm in their sound as opposed to marrying with it in any regard.  This track reminds me of Deathspell Omega to start but soon becomes meandering as it lacks the depth of the aforementioned artist.  Similarly, I can't get on with Alcest, just nothing for me to grab hold of to keep me interested.  I even prefer that Moonsorrow over the Alcest track, even though it constantly broods and never really gets going.

One of my kittens was in the room when that Månegarm track was one and was well fascinated by the bird and animal noises if not the battle sounds.  Entertaining for some at least.

Never heard of Vargrav before but they are very Emperor-like and a little too close to worship for me, nothwithstanding Symphonic bm is a very one-dimensional offering.  I don't feel they do anything exceptional though.  Great to hear some Drudkh on the list and the furious stabs of war metal punctuated the list pretty well to give a real sense of variety.  I need more Teitanblood in my life, just never get around to spending a lot of time with their stuff for some reason even though I have never heard anything by them that I did not like.  Like Sonny I just don't gel with Seth; in all honesty I am yet to figure out why but I soon reached for the skip button on this list when they came on as I had tried their album earlier this year to no avail.

The classic bands ruled the roost for me this month with Blasphemy, Sarcofago and Kvist sitting nicely against my familiar band choices.

I'm really glad Ben suggested this as a monthly feature as I'm sure I may never have stumbled across it otherwise. It is absolutely the case that this is a grower rather than being the type of album that grabs you by the throat from the off and I enjoy those sort of albums hugely as they seem to offer something new upon every listen. Anyway here's my review:

To be honest upon first listen at the start of the month I wasn't especially impressed with Skullreader. However, each time I've returned to it it has dug it's claws deeper into me and now I think it has finally "clicked". To be sure it isn't an "immediate" listen and it certainly doesn't grab you like Zhaaral's Darkspace bandmate, Wintherr's Paysage d'Hiver work does (and in truth it isn't really on the same level as Paysage d'Hiver, but then again, not a lot is).

Anyway, back to the release on hand and what Zhaaral has served up is a hybrid of melodic and atmospheric black metal with some occasional, brief post-metal-ly sections. There is a fair predominance of keyboards present, but they aren't at all overbearing or cloying and are very tastefully incorporated into the overall sound. I have seen the album compared to Blut Aus Nord and that is a fitting comparison I feel, especially when compared to the Memoria Vetusta series (although, again, it isn't on the same level of accomplishment). The layers of guitar and synth build an all-enveloping ambience that does allow for some nice mental pictures to flow. Lord of Mind, for example, with it's slower pacing feels like a journey through a huge abandoned alien city.

I initialy disliked the fact that the vocals are buried in the mix, but have actually grown to enjoy that aspect, as the fact that you have to strain a little to hear them properly makes it feel like a voice is reaching out between dimensions or across the veil between life and death to impart some profound insight. This is not merely an album built on atmosphere though, it also has some quite cool riffs, Fire and Thirst for example, which also has some nice Middle-Eastern influenced guitar work and Vanitas whose main riff sounds imperious.

Overall a very good album, albeit one that takes a bit to get into, but one that is worth persevering with. May not ultimately stack up against his more celebrated colleague's back catalogue, or his original band's output, but I would have welcomed hearing further releases from this project to see where they may have led. As it stands however, Sun of the Blind is a one-shot deal so presumably Zharaal has scratched whatever creative itch he may have been feeling within Darkspace, for now at least.

First off I chose this as a feature release not just because it is one of my favourite albums but also because it shows that black metal needn't necessarily be hateful and misanthropic all the time, but can actually be used to relate human stories and illuminate it's listeners about topics of which they know little or nothing. Austin Lunn is also an artist who flies in the face of genre stereotypes. This is a guy who actually cares about people - he used to be a social worker but quit, I believe, due to the frustration of working within an overly bureaucratic system. So when someone tells you all black metal bands are nazi satanists then point them in Panopticon's direction.

I was originally turned on to Panopticon via his 2014 album Roads to the North and was so impressed I dived right into his back catalogue. The preceding albums were not as impressive as Roads... that is until I got to Kentucky, which is the album where the Panopticon sound really began to gel. The introduction of bluegrass music into a black metal environment was a revelation to me. Of course I was more than familiar with the inclusion of european-derived folk elements in black metal and even middle-eastern influences via bands like Melechesh, but this was a whole new take (to me anyway) and as such sounded fresh and exhilharating. I have always quite liked the sound of bluegrass, it has a kind of melancholy to it that is difficult to pinpoint, but that resonates with me somehow (although coming from England's northern midlands I have no endemic cultural attachment to the music) but it wasn't until I heard it welded to atmospheric black metal that it actually began to make sense to me and none more so than on Kentucky's telling of the struggles of early twentieth century American coal miners against their profit-driven bosses. I don't want to get into the politics of the record, but as I worked with many family members of miners who were part of the bitter early 1980's miner's strike here in the UK, let's just say that I have some sympathy for the album's protagonists and the history of labour struggles does hold some interest for me.

Of course what we came here for is the black metal and Kentucky contains three of my all-time favourite black metal tracks in Bodies Under the Falls, Black Soot and Red Blood and Killing the Giants As They Sleep, these tracks owing much to another of my GOAT albums, WitTR's Two Hunters, an album I've waxed lyrical about on more than one occasion! This blend of poetic black metal, folk protest songs and effortless storytelling makes for a unique listening experience that defies the norm in metal music and firmly plants Kentucky on my list of great black metal albums.

Drudkh - Autumn Aurora (2004)

After seriously enjoying Drudkh's Blood in Our Wells, I knew I had to check out their other albums, so I immediately went for Autumn Aurora and the more I listened to it the more I can't fathom how this one even comes close to Blood in Our Wells. Sure the atmosphere is different and unique from other Atmospheric Black Metal albums, but it's so uneventful in the way that it presents its style. It's lush and gorgeous, but the novelty of it wore off pretty quick for me and it became no more than nice sounding background noise. It's far from a bad album but I can't place this album even near the same level as Blood in Our Wells. 

3.5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Sw9mEcyXo1pGyFHR3znLT?si=82ff89f82bd74806

Tracklisting:

01. Der Weg einer Freiheit – “Aufbruch” (from “Finisterre”, 2017) [Submitted by Vinny]

02. Fluisteraars – “Verscheuring in de schemering” (from “Gegrepen door de geest der zielsontluiking”, 2021) [Submitted by Xephyr]

03. Thron – “The Prophet” (from “Pilgrim”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

04. Arcturus – “To Thou Who Dwellest in the Night” (from “Aspera Hiems Symfonia”, 1996)

05. Deafheaven – “Violet” (from “Roads To Judah”, 2011) [Submitted by Daniel]

06. An Autumn for Crippled Children – “To Set Sail to the Ends of the Earth” (from Lost”, 2010) [Submitted by Ben]

07. Falkenbach – “Ultima Thule” (from “...En Their Medh Riki Fara...”, 1996) [Submitted by Vinny]

08. Departure Chandelier – “Life Escaping Through the Candle's Smoke” (from “Antichrist Rise to Power”, 2019) [Submitted by Sonny]

09. Odal – “...um Ewiges zu schaffen” (from “Welten Mutter”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

10. Duskmourn – “Deathless” (from “Fallen Kings & Rusted Crowns”, 2021) [Submitted by Xephyr]

11. Mayhem – “Chainsaw Gutsfuck” (from “Deathcrush” E.P., 1987) [Submitted by Sonny]

12. Progenie Terrestre Pura – “[.subLuce.]” (from “oltreLuna”, 2017) [Submitted by Ben]

13. Cresent – “The Fires of Akhet” (from “Carving the Fires of Akhet”, 2021) [Submitted by Sonny]

14. Khandra – “In Harvest Against the Sun” (from “All Occupied by Sole Death”, 2021) [Submitted by Sonny]

15. Abigor – “The Rising of Our Tribe” (from “Orkblut - The Retaliation” E.P., 1995) [Submitted by Ben]

16. Anaal Nathrakh – “When Fire Rains Down From the Sky, Mankind Will Reap as It Has Sown” (from “When Fire Rains Down From the Sky, Mankind Will Reap as It Has Sown” E.P., 2003) [Submitted by Ben]

17. Sadistik Exekution – “Fukking Death” (from “Fukk”, 2002) [Submitted by Daniel]

Absolutely correct! 

I think it's been a pretty good year for black metal. To prove it I've put together a playlist on Spotify of tracks from my top twenty albums (actually that's not strictly true as Pan-Amerikan Native Front aren't on Spotify and so Little Turtle's War couldn't be included).

Sonny's Best Black Metal of 2021

All good points Ben. I agree with you that you are not well qualified for any of your four clans & should consider not having any. ;)

P.S. Please dump my ass back in The North when you get a minute. *runs off to review the latest Mago de Oz record*

Done! Welcome back brother of The North!